Press Releases

State Arts Council Announces Partnership with RI Foundation on Program to Help Artist-Entrepeneurs

The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and The Rhode Island Foundation announced today that they are bringing the "Assets for Artists" program to Rhode Island, through a partnership with the internationally acclaimed Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMoCA), the International Institute of New England (IINE) and other regional partners. Assets for Artists is a matched savings program for low-income, entrepreneurial artists. The program provides financial and business training along with grant funds to match the savings of participants, up to $2,000 for working capital investments in their arts businesses. The deadline for Rhode Island artists to apply for participation in the program is March 22, 2013. There is no application fee or tuition cost.

RISCA Executive Director Randall Rosenbaum applauded this effort to help artist-entrepenuers, saying, "We are thrilled to partner with The Rhode Island Foundation to bring MassMoCA's Assets for Artists program to Rhode Island. We know that investments in Rhode Island's creative businesses can have a dynamic impact on our state's economy. The Assets for Artists program will allow us to demonstrate that impact in a very direct way."

Participating artists will engage in a dynamic "bootcamp" on personal finance for artists with Esther Robinson of ArtHome (http://www.arthome.org/staff-and-advisors), followed by enrollment in IINE's "Bridges to Business" Program, providing artist-focused business planning classes and additional 1-on-1 technical assistance.

More information – including profiles of past participants – is available at www.assetsforartists.org.
To learn more about Rhode Island's program and to apply, go to http://www.arts.ri.gov/individuals/assets-for-artists-2013.php

Assets for Artists is a matched savings program for low-income artists, operated by the community development department of the internationally acclaimed Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (www.massmoca.org), ArtHome (www.arthome.org), the Midas Collaborative (www.massassets.org), and a variety of local partners.

Bridges to Business – a program of the International Institute of New England's Microenterprise Department – is a Small Business Administration-funded program that provides small business assistance to low-income entrepreneurs living in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The program delivers customized solutions with one on one coaching to help qualified businesses across a variety of industries strengthen and grow. Its goal is to create and grow small business by providing a variety of support services, including: business education and training; business formation and business plan assistance; sales and marketing strategies; legal advising; and web design and development.

The Rhode Island Foundation is a proactive community and philanthropic leader dedicated to meeting the needs of the people of Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts is a state agency supported by appropriations from the Rhode Island General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. RISCA provides grants, technical assistance and staff support to arts organizations and artists, schools, community centers, social service organizations and local governments to bring the arts into the lives of Rhode Islanders.

For further information on the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts go to www.arts.ri.gov or call 401/222-3881 or email cristina.dichiera@arts.ri.gov